Conveyer



April 18, 1939.

J. L FERGUSON 'coNvEYER Filed June 9, 1937 Patented Apr. 18, 1939g uNlTED STATES PATENT- orrflcl;V

2.15am t comm John L. Ferguson, Joliet, lll., assigner to I. L.

Ferguson Company, Joliet, Ill., a corporation or minos Application June 9,1937, Serial No. 147,167

claims.

the links are not restricted in their angular movei6 ment relative to each other. The invention enables the use of very small sprockets, the size of which are4 limited only by the normal require-f."

ments of the chain itself.

night construction for attachment tothe usual conveyer chains whereby the nights may easily be mounted on the chains and which is adaptable for use with single chain conveyers, or ywith double chain conveyers on which transverse nights may z5 be provided. v Another object is the provision of nights for mounting on chain conveyers in whichthere are no projecting elementsor portions to interfere with the sprockets or with enclosing guides for the chains and which will permit the use of screws or mounting bolts having projecting heads, to be used for mounting the guides.

A further object is the provision of a chain conveyer having interchangeable nights which may be positioned at desired points on the usual chain or chains to provide predeterminedspacing therebetween and without dispensing with any of the chain links or other chain elements, and in which the nights may be retained in operative position solely by interlocking engagement 'with adjacentlinks.

It is also an object to provide a conveyer comprising a chain and Vnights .of the character described in which the conveyer chain may be provided with a suitable housing and guide, and will be quiet in operation, and may be positioned for operation in any desired plane. A iurther'object is the provision of a conveye and nights therefor, which will be simple in construction, cheap tov manufacture, easy to assemble yand which will not easily get out of order.

Further objects Vwill be apparent from the specincation and the appended claims.

In the drawing: l u Fig. lisa topview of ahorizontalsinglechain (ci. 19a-175) conveyer and illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the nights shown .in Fig. 1, with the chain illustrated in dotted lines. l

Fig. 3 is a top plan view illustrating one of the nights as applied to a chain with the adjacent -outside link removed and illustrates the relationship of the night and chain to the usual sprocket. 10

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the chain and night thereon. s

Fig. 51s a transverse sectional view through the chain and combined guide and housing therefor.' kand is taken on a line substantially correspondl15 insta line 5 5 of Fig. 1." n

Fig. 6 is atop plan view of a slightly modined y yform of night mounted on a chain with the ad- A further object is the provision of a unique.

jacent outside link of the chain removed.

Fig. 'l is a perspective v'iew of a night particuylarly adapted for use in connection with double chain conveyers.

Fig. 8 ls a transverse sectional view through a double chain conveyer and illustrates the night shown in Fig. 7 mounted thereon.' I

Referring to the drawing in detailthe embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive comprises the usual chain conveyer I supported on a suitable sprocket 2. lAs previously stated the inveni tion is particularly adapted for use with sprockets l0 of small diameter and itis important that the chain and night thereon should follow the sprocket in the usual manner, that is, the sprocket should drive the chain or vice versa, in the usual manner, and the night or mounting means .there- 86 on should not interfere with lthe normal functioning of the chain and sprocket. i

The chain I may comprise the usual nat inner links t and nat outer links land these links may be secured together in the usual manner by means en of pins E and cotter pins i. The pins 5 may be provided with rollers 1 for engagement with the sprocket teeth. The links are provided with the usual rounded ends.' Flights 8 may be mounted between the links as illustrated and these nights 45 may comprise a body portion 9 having an outwardly extending night portion In integral therewith or secured thereto. The nights are provided with suitable inwardly extending nanges Il having concave ends l2 conforming in contour lill` with the arcuate ends of the inner links 3. The nanges Il are spaced the same distance apart as the inner links 3, and may be substantially the same width and thickness.` In order to assemble thenightsonthechainitisonlynecessaryto remove one of the outer links 4l and place the night in position with the nanges il between the ends of the inner links 3 as illustrated, and the outer link 4 may then be replaced on the pins 5 and secured thereon by means of the cotter pins 6.

It will be apparent that 'the nights will be securely held between the ends of the inner links with each nange and associated links I in the same plane but the nanges will not interfere with v the normal action of the links and sprocket and a special sprocket is not required.

In using these chain conveyers it is preferable to provide suitable guides for the chains. Fig. 5 illustrates a typev of guide which is particularly adapted for the purpose and .comprises a sheet metal track or combined housing a'nd guide mem- Aber lig-which may be U-shaped in cross section land provided with inturned nanges il engaging the outer edges of the outer linksV 4. The `sides of the guides are formed outwardly at IB to provide clearance for lthe ends of the-chain pins 5.

This type'of-guide as well as the method of moimting the nights provides for veryvquiet operation -of the conveyer. Heretofore it has usually been necessary tomount the guides by means of countersunk screws in vorder that there would be no projecting heads which would be engaged by the usual nights which enter ,between the links of the chainand are either .bolted or riveted thereto, or may themselves form links.

Inthe embodiment as illustrated in' Fig. 5, the mounting nanges Ii are aligned with the inner links 3 and therefore ordinary round head screws ltmaybeusedtosecuretheguidesasthere is no obstruction 4between the flanges or between .the links. The guide may be secured to any convenient part of the machine, such' as the member I1. l

Fig. -illustrates a slightly dinerent embodiment of the device in which the night comprises an elongated base il having nanges ila similar to the nanges Il previously described. Outwardly extending adjustable night brackets Il may besecured to the base IIl by means of screwsor bolts 20. The brackets may be provided with slots2i whereby they may be adjusted to engage ade- *.sired size of container tnerebetwee X Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a slightly differ- -ent embodiment of the invention which is par-v ticularly adapted for use with double chain con.- veyers. This embodiment comprises an elongated night' 22 provided at each end with downwardly extending nanges'llb. The nanges may correspond in every particular with the previously described nanges ii and are arranged to be mounted in the same manner betweenthe inner links of the spaced chains 23 as illustrated in Fig. 8.

The method or mounting um elongated night on` the chainis the same as previously described for the single chain.

It will be apparent that the invention provides vvan extremely simple construction whereby nights may be mounted on ordinary conveyer chains without the use of means other than the nights and chains themselves; and in which the night will not interfere with the normal operation of the chain around the smallest practical sprocket. Also, the chain will freely operate in a combined housing and guide such as illustratedin Fig. 5. l

y This type of guide is particularly desirableas it forms an enlcient lubricant retainer.

It will be apparent that the vflanges il of the night may be somewhat farther bapart if desired so that they may be positioned outside the inner without interfering with the normal links 3 and in alignment' with the outer links 4 and between the arcuate ends thereof. However, the construction previously 'described is preferable particularly .for use in connection withA a guide such as shown in Fig. 5, also itl provides for somewhat easier assembly.

Modincationfs may be made by those skilled in the art without departing-from the spirit of invention. .It is therefore desired that theinvention be limited only bythe prior art and the scope of thel appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is .claimed and desired to be secured 'by Letters Patent is:

1. In a conveyer-of the character described, a chain ofthe roller sprocket type comprising link members Ihaving overlapping ends secured together. by suitable pivot pins,l a night having a portion `extending between alternate links and in longitudinal alignment therewith, said portion substantially nlllng the space between said longitudinally aligned link ends and interlocking therewith in a manner tov permit free angular movement of said links and' enable the normal co-operation of a sprocket with said chain without increasing the Width thereof.

2. A conveyer chain night for roller sprocket chains of the character described comprising a ybase substantially the width of the chain, a pair of nanges on said base and spaced apart for longitudinal alignment with the inner links of a conveyer chain to enable a sprocket to enter therebetween, said nanges being arranged to extend between the adjacent ends of said inner links and having ends conforming in contour with the ends of, said links and engageable therewith to provide a bearing whereby the night is retained in operative position without materially restricting the-movement of the chain links.

3. A night for a conveyer .chain of the roller type described comprising a body portion and two spaced nanges having their ends conformlng to the arcuate spaced ends of adJacent'lat- -erally spaced inner links of a conveyer chain, said nanges being in the same plane as adjacent inner links and substantially` the same thickness,

whereby the nanges may be mounted between the outer'links of the chain and retained -thereby angular movement of the links nor with the normal cooperation of an ordinary sprocket therebetween.

4. A night for a conveyer chain of the roller type described comprising a body portion having spaced flanges substantially the -saine thickness as the chain links, each of sai'd nanges-being ar- Iranged to be` mounted between lonigtudinally aligned links of said Achain and inthe sameplane therewith, the ends of said nanges conforming in contour with the ends of the longitudinally aligned links whereby said night may be retained in operative position on said chain while permitting normal angular movement of said links and said links, whereby to enable normal operation of said chain on the usual sprocket.

6. A flight for a conveyer chain of the roller type described comprising a base, a pair of ilanges spaced laterally substantially the same as the two inner series of links in saidchaln and substantially the same thickness,4 to enablethe usual operation of a sprocket therebetween, the ends of said anges being arcuate to provide a working t between two pairs of said inner series of links whereby said flanges may be moved laterally into alignment with said links when only the adjacentlnk of the outer series on one side of said chain is removed.

'7. A double chain conveyer comprising spaced sprocket chai-ns of the flat link type described, a'

the longitudinal space between an alternate pair of aligned links, said flanges-being spaced trans-I versely to substantially fill said spaces and enable free operation `of a sprocket therebetween and retained therein by interlocking engagement with Said links.

" JOHN FERGUSON. 

